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The Maternal Combustion
Not to be confused with The Maternal Capacitance or The Maternal Congruence. "The Maternal Combustion" is the twenty-third episode and penultimate episode of the eighth season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on Thursday, April 30, 2015. Summary While both Sheldon and Leonard's mothers visit to see their sons get an award, Bernadette wants more help around their new home from Raj, Howard and Stuart. Extended Plot While setting up dinner, Leonard, Sheldon, Penny and Amy are discussing the upcoming the visits of the guys' mother|mothers to see them get an award. Leonard knows when his mother reaches California airspace by feeling a disturbance in Force (Star Wars)|the Force. Sheldon is preparing a bowl of The Yellow Rose of Texas (song)|yellow roses for his mother. If Amy asks for roses, then he calls them a "bouquet of severed plant genitals". Sheldon did get her a rotting Trunk (botany)|log that produced mushroom|mushrooms for Valentine's Day (Amy points out that while flowers die, a moist rotting log will produce mushrooms for 2-3 years). Penny wonders if she should get something for Beverly since she is not that excited about her Intimate relationship|relationship with Leonard. Leonard suggests her getting a Ph.D overnight, though Penny points out that it did not work for him and his mother. Will the two different woman|women get along? One is brilliant while the other is sweet and simple according to Sheldon who compares it to his relationship with Leonard, much to Leonard's chagrin. Sheldon is having tea with his mother who is proud of both of them, but can't understand the Scholarly paper|research paper they wrote about understanding the universe as an Dimension|n-dimensional Superfluidity|super-fluid. And the God saving the world with an Noah's ark|ark story is nonsense? Sheldon wants his mother to keep the Bible babble down when talking to the brilliant psychiatrist and woman of science Dr. Beverly Hofstadter. Mary wants to know if Sheldon is ashamed of her. Sheldon does love her, but is embarrassed by the things that she belief|believes, does and says. Leonard and his mother are climbing the stairs, while she asks about a wedding date. Leonard and Penny are taking it slow. "I see," comments Beverly. After seeing each other for seven year|years, she wonders if the sex between them is satisfactory. Leonard reluctantly agrees. "Only satisfactory?" Leonard changes his answer to that it's very hot and then Beverly wonders why he is trying to impress his mother with his sexual prowess. Leonard then asks his mother not to do all her analysis in front of the sweet religious Mary Cooper. Beverly assures him that she knows how to address other people's walks of life, until she finds out that Mary is from East Texas. Entering the apartment, Sheldon goes to greet Beverly who read their paper and called it brilliant. She didn't say anything to Leonard. She feels that is a mother's job to make sure that her child|child's self-esteem is not dependent on any else's approval, to which Leonard laughs at the idea that his mother thinks he has self-esteem. Mary and Beverly meet and shake hands. Both had good flights, though Mary felt like someone, she's not saying who, was watching over her. Beverly asks if she was kidding. Leonard then tells his mother "Subtle, Mom. Real subtle.". In her house, Bernadette comes into the kitchen and finds Stuart in his underwear taking care of an itch on his Buttocks|posterior. Bernadette doesn't mind him living there, but among the rule|rules, he has to wear pants. Howard then enters the kitchen in only underwear and socks. Mary tells Beverly that she must be very proud of her son. She replies that he is arguing his first legal case in front of the Supreme Court. "He did?" asks Mary. "Oh, you mean Leonard?," says Beverly. A moment of silence, she says in apparently unconvincing tone "Yeah, he's terrific." Sheldon starts to show Beverly the math he worked out for his hypothesis. Oops, Leonard's hypothesis. Beverly wonders when Mary first knew that Sheldon was going to have such a remarkable mind. When he was thirteen he tried to build the nuclear reactor to supply electricity for the whole town because he was always concerned about the well-being of others. This statement confuses Leonard. To power the reactor he had arranged to get some yellow cake (uranium) from a warlord in Chad (Africa). His mother thought he was getting some Twinkies from a local friend|friends. Leonard wants his mother to tell the narrative|story about how he made a Van de Graff generator out of their vacuum cleaner. Beverly merely says that he broke the vacuum cleaner. Howard and Raj are playing a video game in the living room, while Stuart is reading a magazine and wearing pants. Bernadette returns after doing a lot of errand|errands of washing the car}], picking up . This suggests that either they didn't know at the time that she was pregnant with twins, she was worried of how [[George Cooper Jr.|George Jr. turned out and didn't want a repeat, or that she wasn't worried of how Missy would turn out because she assumed any daughter of her's would be better then Junior. *Leonard says his mother likes everybody else better than she likes him, but this quote doesn't quite make sense because she only seems to like Sheldon better than anybody else, seeing as she has also annoyed and belittled Howard and Raj. * Despite Mary and Beverly apologizing to each other, it is suggested they that they only gave something closest to an apology and that the peace made between them didn't genuinely occur, likely suggesting that at the end, they actually truly hated each other, in a similar way of Emily and Penny's parting and saying 'I hate her' in "The Hook-up Reverberation" (S8E4). This is shown in their next appearance together when in their next appearance together in the Season 9 finale "The Convergence-Convergence" (S9E24) where they again fight, Mary not happy of having Beverly in her presence and when Mary bonds with Leonard's father over their mutual hatred of Beverly. Goofs *When Leonard hugs his mother, Beverly says 'Oh, my son.' Leonard replies 'Oh, my mother' and Penny responds with 'Oh, my God', Mary doesn't even react to the blasphemy, much less chastise Penny for it. This is completely out of character for her, a devout Christian. *In "The Maternal Capacitance" (S2E15), Beverly when asked if she's proud says "Why? They're not my accomplishments". In this episode when asked if she's proud she says "Oh, yes". Quotes :Penny: It's so nice, she's going to love it. :Amy: Sure, his Mom gets roses. When I want them, they're a "bouquet of severed plant genitals". :Sheldon: You act like I didn't get that severed mushroom log on Valentine's Day. :Amy: He's right. Roses die, but a moist rotting log will pump mushrooms for two or three magical years. ---- :Mary: You can believe that, but God filling an ark with animals two-by-two is nonsense. :Sheldon: What did they feed the lions, Mother? :Mary: The floating bodies of drowned sinners, of course. ---- :scene of a not-so-happy Bernadette entering the kitchen of the Wolowitz house looking very cross. Only to see Stuart in his t-shirt, socks and boxers scratching his rear end and putting the jug back on the coffee maker :Bernadette: speaks softly and firmly Stuart. :turns around and faces Bernadette :Stuart: greeting to her rather nervously Morning. :Bernadette: gives Stuart a little firm advice We talked about this. I don’t mind you still living here, but we got to have some rules. And rule number one is pants. :badly-conditioned and messy-haired Howard (wearing vest, socks and boxers) enters the kitchen scratching his tummy. :Howard: Hey. :Howard scratches his rear end and reaches for the wall cupboard. Bernadette immediately gets more fed up and cross by all of this. ---- :Beverly: You’ve been on and off with this woman for seven years and engaged for one year. One has to wonder if there’s a problem. Are you having satisfactory intercourse? :Leonard: Yes, Mother. :Beverly: Only satisfactory. I see. :Leonard: I change my answer. It-it’s amazing. It’s hot. We can barely keep our hands off each other. :Beverly: Seems odd to try and impress your mother with your sexual prowess. But then, you always did have that unresolved Oedipal complex. ---- :Mary: You must be very proud of your son. :Beverly: Oh yes. He recently argued a case before the Supreme Court. :Mary: He did? :Beverly: Oh, you mean this son. (A distraught look is now on Beverly's face) Um, (unconvincingly) sure, he’s terrific. ---- :Leonard: So Mom. You haven’t seen Penny since she got engaged. :Penny: Oh yeah, let me show you the ring. :Beverly: Oh, lovely. It must have been very expensive. :Sheldon: Oh no, not at all. No, we found a place online that, uh, re-purposes diamond drill bits. :Leonard: We did not. That’s not true. Can I speak to you alone for a second. :Sheldon: Oh, sure. :Leonard: It came from Tiffany’s. :Penny: Oh. :Sheldon: You mean the box, right? :Leonard: Keep walking! ---- :Mary: The Bible is “uck” to you? :Beverly: No. I’m sorry. That was inappropriate. AS a psychiatrist I know how important people’s superstitions can be to them. ---- :scene of the messy living room at the Wolowitz house where Raj and Howard (still not dressed) are playing a video game on the settee while Stuart (who is still in his t-shirt) reads a comic on the arm chair. Stuart now is now wearing pants :Howard: I mean, for a while, everything was vampires. Now it’s all zombies. I wonder what the next monster fad will be. :Raj: We haven’t had a good invisible man in a while. :Stuart: Clearly, you’ve never seen me try to talk to a woman. :pretty angry Bernadette enters the messy sitting room with shopping bags and she immediately tells the guys off :Bernadette: is so very cross with the guys attitude Guys. In the time you’ve been sitting here playing video games, I got the car washed, picked up cleaning supplies and went to the bank. :Stuart: speaks with a nervous smile I put on pants. :flutters his eyes for a few seconds and faces Howard for a second :Howard: grumbles to Stuart Kiss-ass. :now plods his head down to his comic and twitches his lips for one second :Bernadette: getting more crosser Okay, I don’t know when I became the mother to three lazy teenagers, but it stops today. punishes the guys immediately You guys are cleaning the kitchen, top to bottom. :now angrily slams a shopping bag down onto the couch next to Raj :Raj: speaks dissapointingly Hey, I don’t even live here. :Bernadette: is still very cross Yes or no, do you have clothes in my laundry right now? :Raj: I do. :is now enormously cross at Raj's 'I do' comment :Raj:'' speaks in a rather shifty way'' And some of it’s wool, so dry flat if possible. :now continues to get even more crosser with a 'get yourselves organized right now' expression on her face. ---- :Beverly: I’m terribly sorry that I upset your mother. :Sheldon: Oh, it’s all right. She’ll forgive you. She has to or she goes to hell. :Beverly: I can’t help but notice how her unconditional love for you is diametrically opposed to my own parenting strategies. :Sheldon: Well, you doled out affection as a reward for achievement, a proven way to raise a child. Or train a rat. :Beverly: But look how well you turned out. :Sheldon: I’d feign modesty at this point, but who would believe me? Still, you need to consider how successful Leonard’s brother and sister are. :Beverly: I suppose. :Sheldon: While my brother and sister are mouth-breathing idiots. :Beverly: Do you suppose you would’ve flourished more in a reward-based environment? :Sheldon: Perhaps. But my mom made me spaghetti with chopped-up hot dogs whenever I wanted, so who cares? ---- :kitchen scene at the Wolowitz house where the three guys are cleaning the kitchen as a punishment that Bernadette had given them :Raj: How old is this Jell-O? :Stuart: Well, it’s carrots, so gonna say very. :Howard: Sorry we have to do this. :Stuart: Bernadette’s not wrong. She does work hard around here. :Raj: Yeah, maybe it’s a good thing if she stops babying you so much. :Howard: She doesn’t baby me. :Stuart: I saw her pull you home in a wagon. :Howard: For your information, I twisted my ankle chasing the ice cream truck. :Raj: Face it, dude, Bernadette treats you the same way your mother used to, and that was not a healthy relationship. :Howard: You’re right. It’s time for me to act like an adult in this marriage. Starting with my husbandly duty of taking out the trash. (bag rips, trash spills onto floor) Bernie, I made a mess. ---- :Leonard: Not once did my mother ever give me any love or affection for just being myself. I always had to earn it. :Mary: Oh Leonard, I'm sure she loves you very much in her own cold godless way. :Penny: Yeah, and you certainly don’t have to earn my love. :Leonard: Thank you. :Penny: Of course you already knew that when you bought me this princess-cut drill bit. :Leonard: That’s not what it is. :Penny: I know. I know. {Whizzzz.} :Mary: When your mom gets back, I’m gonna need to apologize for the way I spoke to her. :Penny: Well, come on now, she did kind of start it. :Mary: Doesn’t matter, a good Christian would’ve turned the other cheek. On the other hand, a good Texan would’ve shot her, so, I just kind of split the difference. Hey, who’s in the mood for spaghetti and hot dogs? :Leonard: Oh, me. :Penny: Yeah, me, too. :Mary: Coming up. :Leonard: I don’t really feel I deserve it. ---- :Beverly: There’s something I need to say to you. :Leonard: Oh really? That’s too bad. :Beverly: Leonard: I always made you earn my affection, but today I realize that there’s more than one way to raise a child. :Sheldon: I taught her that. :Beverly: Therefore I would like initiate a new protocol where I shower you with unconditional love. :Leonard: Wow. When does that start? :Beverly: So needy. (Holding out her arms) Come to Mommy. :Penny: It’s okay. Go ahead. :(Awkward hug) :Beverly: (Unemotionally) Oh, my son. :Leonard: Oh, my mother. :Penny: Oh, my God. ---- :Beverly: Mary, I am curious. When did you first realize that your son had such a remarkable mind? :Sheldon: Oh, good question. Everybody loves stories about Sheldon Cooper, boy genius. :Mary: Well, I’ll have to say when he was thirteen and tried to build a nuclear reactor in the tool shed. :Sheldon: Oh, this is a good one. :Mary: Now the first thing you have to know about Shelly is ever since he was a little boy he was always concerned with the well-being of others. And he didn’t think it was fair for people to pay for electricity, so he was going to power the entire town for free. :Sheldon: Tell her about the uranium. Tell her about the uranium. :Mary: Oh, well. Oh, this is adorable. When he arranged to get some yellow cake from Chad, I thought he was talking about Twinkies from one of his friends. :Sheldon: Yeah, but wasn't. ‘Cause I didn't have any friends. :Mary: No. It turns out that this scallywag was trying to use my Visa card to buy uranium from an African warlord in the country of Chad! ---- :Mary: What bull dropped that on the barn floor? :Beverly: His name is Sigmund Freud. :Penny: Hey, look at that. You both believe in bearded Jewish guys. :Mary: Stay out of this. :Penny: Mm-hmm. :Mary: At least the bearded man that I believe in preaches love and compassion. All yours talks about is why you hold in your poop and want to crawl back inside your Mama. :Beverly: It’s fascinating. How can someone as enlightened as Sheldon come from someone like you? :Mary: I know the answer. You’re not going to like it. :Beverly: (takes off her glasses) Try me. :Mary: When I was pregnant with Shelly, I was driving to church, and I was praying to the Lord to give me a son smarter than his dumb-ass Daddy. And I looked over and I saw a Jesus bobble-head in the Subaru next to me nodding yes. :Beverly: {Hits herself in the forehead.} :Mary: What is that supposed to mean? :Beverly: It means – I can’t believe were having this conversation. :Mary: Well, do it some more. Maybe you can knock some sense into yourself. ---- :ending scene in the kitchen of the Wolowitz household where the three guys are doing more cleaning the kitchen and Raj starts whistling the first two lines of "It's a Hard Knock Life" for ten seconds, Howard then hums the next two lines of that tune for twelve seconds and Stuart sings the last line. :Stuart (singing): It’s a hard-knock life. :Together (singing): It’s the hard-knock life for us, it’s the hard-knock life for us. ‘Stead of treated, we get tricked, crossly enters, immediately turns around to exit with silent rage without saying anything at all and completely ignores their song. She has had enough of them by this point. ‘stead of kisses, we get kicked, it’s the hard-knock life. :kitchen door is now closed as Bernadette is finally gone :Howard (singing): Got no folks to... :Together (singing): speak of so it’s the hard-knock row we hoe, cotton blankets :hits the cooker, Stuart stamps his foot and Howard hits his brush on the bucket top as a beat to which they all do at the same time. :Together: (singing): ‘stead of wool, empty bellies :hits the cooker, Stuart stamps his foot and Howard hits his brush on the bucket top as another beat to which they all do at the same time again. :Together (singing): ‘stead of full, it’s a hard-knock life. ---- Gallery sopenny.jpg|Penny in the middle of an argument between the mothers. hmmmn.jpg|A discussion of religion is heating up. saywhat.jpg|Both mothers are discussing Sheldon's brilliance and Leonard is jealous. kindleipadlook.jpg|Sheldon showing pictures of his first college graduation. hownice.jpg|Penny was detained by her job. lookingring.jpg|Penny showing off her engagement ring. meeting.jpg|Mary and Beverly meet. Moth5.png|Bernadette is tried of being a mother to three teen-aged boys. Moth4.png|"It's a hard knock life for us..." Moth3.png|Maybe there is a different way to raise children... Moth2.png|Mom! Okay. Moth1.png|Leonard is tired of everyone talking about Sheldon. Pants30.png|I'm proud of my other son. Pants22.png|Preparing dinner and discussing the impending visits of their mothers. Pants21.png|The roses he got for his mother. Pants19.png|Amy. Pants17.png|Having tea with his mother. Pants16.png|After calling her son lion chow. Pants15.png|Don't analyze the sweet religious Mary Cooper. Pants14.png|Leonard's mother, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter. Pants13.png|Dr. Hofstadter, it is good to see you again. Pants12.png|It's good to see you again, Sheldon. Pants11.png|It is a pleasure to meet you. Pants10.png|You know who - watched me on my flight. Pants9.png|You're kidding, aren't you? Pants8.png|How was your flight? Pants7.png|Finding Stuart in his underwear. Pants6.png|Scratching his posterior. Pants5.png|Stuart in the morning. Pants4.png|Bernadette telling Stuart to wear "Pants!" Pants3.png|Preparing dinner. PAnts2.png|Thanks, mother. Pants1.png|Howard isn't wearing pants either. Pants60.png|Raj asking "Is that jello?" Pants59.png|What did she just say? Pants58.png|Meeting her future daughter-in-law. Pants57.png|Good hug from Mary. Pants56.png|Okay! Pants52.png|Mary Cooper. Pants48.png|Penny visiting with the mothers. Pants46.png|"You are going to clean the kitchen" Bernadette says crossly. Pants45.png|Stuart. Pants43.png|Lazing about playing video games. Pants42.png|Tell her about.... Pants41.png|Tired of hearing about Sheldon. PAnts40.png|Proud of her little boy. Pants36.png|Sheldon talking about Sheldon. Pants35.png|I was entering puberty. Pants33.png|This is a good story about me. Pants32.png|When did you notice Sheldon's brilliant mind? Pants31.png|He did? Pants30.png|I am proud of my son. Pants29.png|Getting to know each other. Pants28.png|It's nice that you think I have self-esteem. PAnts27.png|Amy smiling at Sheldon. Pants26.png|If I want roses they're "bouquet of severed plant genitals". Pants23.png|Amy in her one scene. Pants21.png|Sheldon and the yellow roses he got for his mother. Pants20.png|pHD? It didn't work for you. Pants19.png|It's so nice that your mothers are both coming. Pants18.png|You could get a pHD overnight. Pants85.png|Admiring Beverly wanting to give Leonard unconditional love. PAnts83.png|Wow, when does that start? Pants81.png|Let me shower you with unconditional love. Pants79.png|Howard loses his sock. Pants78.png|Talking about Beverly raising him. Pants77.png|The kitchen looks clean and you did it yourself. Pants76.png|You don't have to earn my love. Pants74.png|Your reward system is a proven way to raise a child or train a rat. Pants73.png|Staurt says "Bernadette does do a lot of work around here". PAnts71.png|Keep doing it. Maybe it'll knock some sense into you. Pants70.png|I can't believe I'm having this conversation. Pants69.png|And the bobble-head Jesus in the Subaru next to me nodded yes. Pants68.png|Penny listening to Mary and Beverly argue. PAnts67.png|Beverly listening to Mary's beliefs. Pants66.png|See, you both believe in bearded Jewish guys! Pants65.png|Penny after Beverly calls religion superstition. Pants64.png|Howard's efforts in taking out the trash fail. Pants63.png|Howard working in the kitchen. Pants62.png|We'd love spaghetti and hot dogs. Pants61.png|Penny can't believe Beverly's comments.aw. Pants55.png|Oh, okay. Pants54.png|Sorry, I was held up at work. PAnts53.png|You don't look happy. I was entering puberty. References * http://forum.the-big-bang-theory.com/topic/5089-season-8-taping-reports/page-2 Taping Report by Mamallama. Category:Season 8 Category:Leonard-Penny Engaged Category:Howard Category:Raj Category:Amy Category:Bernadette Category:Penny Category:Sheldon Category:Leonard Category:Howard-Bernadette Category:Shamy Category:Beverly Hofstadter Category:Stuart Category:Awards Category:Raj-Emily Together Category:Argument Category:Amy One Scene Category:Episodes Category:The Big Bang Theory Category:Wolowitz House Category:Penny's Short Hair Category:Episodes with musical numbers Category:Music Category:Leonard and Sheldon Fight Category:Mary-Beverly War Category:Wars Category:Raj Talks Without Alcohol Category:Mrs. Wolowitz Mentioned Category:Penny has a job Category:Spring episodes